Having a home gym is a true blessing, especially during these trying times. The problem is, budget can be a limiting factor at times, and most people can’t buy a variety of machines to fulfill every whim.
Luckily, all we need is a bit of creativity to hack our way to a better fitness experience at home gym. So, without further ado, let’s dive into five extremely easy home gym hacks to consider:
Home Gym Hack 1: Use a Tennis Ball as A Landmine
Having a landmine for your home gym is beneficial. It allows you to do great exercises like T-bar rows, rotations, presses, squats, and single-arm rows.
The problem is, landmine attachments aren’t always cheap to get, and you might not have an obvious place where you can put yours. Luckily, so long as you have a barbell, you can make a landmine with a tennis ball.
Take a tennis ball, grab a knife, and cut two lines: one horizontal and one vertical. Make both lines long enough so the ball opens. Put the tennis ball over one of the barbell sides and place it in the corner of your home gym. Voila! You now have a landmine, and you can use for all sorts of movements and without damaging your wall.
Home Gym Hack 2: Use Magnetic Hooks to Keep Neat
Who doesn’t love to organize their home gym and keep things neat? The problem is, your gym is bound to grow and accumulate more items as time passes. Resistance bands, chains, and weight belts are three examples, but there are other items you will buy at some point. So, having places to store all of these is essential.
Magnetic hooks are cheap, practical, and work exceptionally well. Depending on the magnet, these can support up to 100 pounds of weight or even more. The magnet allows you to stick your hooks to various metal surfaces, such as your squat rack. As a result, you have somewhere to store miscellaneous items and keep your training environment of your home gym organized and tidy.
Home Gym Hack 3: DIY Pulley System
Cable stations are amazing, but let’s be honest: they are big, heavy, and cost a pretty penny. The good news is, you can build a simple pulley system with some basic materials and use weight plates to load movements like: Lat pulldowns, Tricep pushdowns, Cable crunches, Bicep curls, etc.
All you need is:
- Coated steel cable or rope
- One or two single pulleys
- A few carabiners
- Weight plate post for a pulley
- A couple of handle attachments
Step-by-step Guide on DIY pulley system for home gym:
Step 1.Get a rough idea of the cable length by looping it through the top point of your pulley. For example, if you plan on having your pulley at the top of your squat rack, loop the cable through, and pull it down to the floor, so you have an idea of the length of a cable you need.
Step 3.Bend one end of the cable and proceed to make a non-slip loop knot (the four-step procedures are illustrated below). Then loop the other end of the cable with the same steps.
Step 4. Attach a carabiner to your pulley and anchor it to your ceiling or squat rack. A squat rack is a better option because it is simple. You can use a pin or chain to attach the carabiner. 
Step 5. Add a carabiner at one end of the cable and attach it to a weight plate post for a pulley. You will be using that to load pulley exercises via standard weight plates.
Step 6. Add an attachment at the other end of the cable via another carabiner––a handle, rope, straight bar, or something else rom your home gym.
Home Gym Hack 4: Use Phone Magnets to Free Hands
Let’s face it:
We all have our phones around us when we train. Whether you use it for music or browsing social media between sets, your phone is there. The problem is, keeping such a delicate and expensive piece of technology around heavy iron can be an issue. For example, you might drop a weight plate on your phone and destroy it.
So, we recommend getting a simple phone magnet added to your home gym. The attachment allows you to stick your phone to all sorts of metal objects, safe from falling weights. For example, you can place your phone on the squat rack.
Home Gym Hack 5: Piping Insulation to Protect Safeties on a Rack
The problem with metal equipment is that home gym maintaining it is easier said than done, especially for squat racks and barbells. For example, let’s say you love doing rack pulls and other similar movements where the barbell rests inside a rack. You’ve probably noticed that metal on metal contact is not good. Aside from chipping the surfaces inside your squat rack, it damages the knurling of your barbell.
Luckily, a simple home gym hack can fix the issue. All you need is some piping insulation (braided vinyl), which you can get at a store like Home Depot. It’s durable but soft enough so you can cut it with a knife. Cut the appropriate length, then split the piping insulation with a box cutter or a similar tool. Once you’ve done that, slide it over your safety bars to keep your home gym equipment looking brand new.
Comment down below if you have any other home gym hacks to share↓
